1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a system and method for capturing, sharing, annotating, archiving, and reviewing phone calls in a computer document format and more particularly to a system and method for capturing, sharing, annotating, archiving, and reviewing phone calls in a computer document format that can be modified while maintaining the integrity of the original contents of the document.
2. State of the Art
There are many instances where credit card companies, insurance companies, private individuals, or other entities desire to record a phone call. For example, the ability to record a phone call may be desired to verify information conveyed during a phone conversation or to provide evidence in the event of a dispute over the substance of a phone conversation. However, an entity that desires to record a phone call faces several challenges.
The phone call recording may not provide sufficient data to identify the phone call and its parties. Without sufficient data to identify the phone call and its parties, it is difficult for an entity to use the phone call recording as evidence in a dispute between the parties. Some methods of recording phone calls only record the information that is verbally communicated between the parties during the call. If the parties do not verbally communicate enough data during the call to sufficiently identify the phone call and its parties, the recording will not be useful to the parties as evidence in a dispute between the parties.
Entities that record a large number of phone calls may have difficulty archiving the recorded calls in a simple, organized manner. If the recorded phone calls are not archived in a simple, organized manner, the entity may have difficulty retrieving a specific recording or set of recordings pertinent to a specific party or issue. This can be especially detrimental to an entity trying to retrieve a phone call recording pertinent to a dispute with another party.
If the phone call recording is needed in a dispute between two parties, its integrity must be maintained. For example, a court may not allow a phone call recording as evidence if there are not sufficient security measures in place to maintain the integrity of the recording. Thus, the recording process may need to be performed by third parties or performed with security features that prevent tampering of the recordings.
Recording a phone call in a standard computer audio file format such as .wav has allowed large numbers of phone call recordings to be archived and retrieved within a computer data system. This has provided archiving and retrieval benefits inherent to any computer data system. However, a phone call recording in a computer audio file format still may not readily identify the phone call and its parties, if the recording only contains the verbal communications between the parties. Additionally, the organization of a large number of phone call files recorded in a standard computer audio format has been limited to sorting by filename. Methods of attaching automated call data pertinent to the phone call, such as the parties' phone numbers, the time and date of the call, hold times, etc. to the computer audio file have been used to provide additional information to help identify the parties and the phone call in a future dispute between the parties. Attaching automated call data to the files has also provided additional options for sorting and organizing a large number of phone call recording files and thus has made retrieving a specific call or set of calls easier.
However, prior methods of attaching automated call data to a recorded phone call computer file are limited by the automated data collected and attached to the file. The party recording the conversation may desire additional user-defined call data to be annotated and attached to a phone call file during a call or post call, while maintaining the integrity of the phone call. This will allow the party to be able to review and share the phone calls in an easily transferable method, and will provide additional options for archiving and retrieving the files. Accordingly, there is a need in the field of telecommunication and informational technology for an improved method for capturing, sharing, annotating, archiving, and reviewing phone calls.